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Classroom Update 3/29/16

Oh my oh my! Time has flying by and the school year has been so busy that I am a bit behind. But the good news is that because of that I have so much to fill up on when it comes to the classes!

Western Civ.

Our class has been breezing through the Middle Ages and all its…interesting features. We learned about the living lives of both the poor and the rich and the striking contrasts. From the large Tudor mansions that houses those who had the money, while the poor lived in a one room house that they had to share with their animals. Then we moved on to the not so lovely topic of the Black Plague, which involved many disturbing descriptions on what those who suffered from. Needless to say that the students were very happy that they no longer had to worry about such a disease in America. Following this, students had a major project in which they created their own thesis on something they had learned about the Middle Ages. Thesis included “Was the justice system truly just?” and “Did anything positive come from Plague?”. Students then had to create a visual that relayed their content knowledge and present it to the class. All of this with minimal teacher influence. The students learned to work independently and they did a fantastic job. Below is some of the amazing student work that was created due to this project! Now on the Renaissance.

Global Studies

In this class as of late, we have learned some of the hard truths that have come with many countries in Africa. From the children soldiers in Uganda, the horrors of Darfur and Rwanda and the pirates in Somalia. The students have really taken an interest in the information they have learned and absorbed the information in a way that has really been apparent. They have been vocal about the clear violation of basic human rights to the many military powers that have used their power to create a dictatorship over their country, and they have asked many though provoking questions that has cause lively discussion in our classroom. We have, throughout the unit referred back to activity we had, the Berlin Conference, and As they finish up their Africa Magazines, that are due before April break, the students will be finishing up their Africa Unit. And although the unit is about to come to an end the information that the students have learned will remain with them for much longer.

Economics

Students are now beginning to understand the basic ideas of Economics. They have learned about the three major philosophers, (Adam Smith, John Kenye, and Karl Marx), and what their major belief systems. After taking a quick quiz on the three, we moved straight onto the importance of supply and demand. We have discovered the how without supply and demand our countries economy would not function in a proper way. We have learned how each of these have their own says that also help dictate how the economy runs. We are about to take our first unit test and then we are moving on to GDP vs. GNP and which one would be more beneficial for the Untied States.